Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-33038

Memory Safety in Qualcomm Snapdragon 8C Compute Platform Firmware

Published
02 January 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0012 2th percentile
Risk Priority 47 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-33038 is a medium-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon 8C Compute Platform Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 6.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Memory corruption while receiving a message in Bus Socket Transport Server.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-33032Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-28537Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-22666Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-22388Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-28558Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-33033Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-43518Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-28587Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-28545Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-33030Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem

Affected Assets

qualcomm
315 5g iot modem firmware
all versions
qualcomm
aqt1000 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
ar8035 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6620 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6640 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csrb31024 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6200 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6700 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6800 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6900 firmware
all versions
+134 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, unit tests) directly finds integer overflow defects before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Secure engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer overflow during calculation.

Input validation enforces bounds on values before arithmetic, stopping the conditions that trigger overflow or wraparound.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect integer overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer overflows.

degrades

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid overflow conditions.

degrades

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe integer operations and mandate overflow-safe constructs.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References